Discover the Snowy Scheme

from North East Living Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2023

by Provincial Press Group

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF A CATHEDRAL EDUCATION

VISIT US

Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre and Cafe Monaro Highway, Cooma

VISIT US

Snowy Hydro Display

Walk, ride or drive through a unique landscape with a colourful history.

Nine walking trails, and 12km of cycle trails give access to 33 different wetland areas, showcasing:

Amazing indigenous outdoor sculptures

Art in the landscape, as a part of the North-East Silo Art Trail

Captivating native birds and wildlife

Bush camping climate conditions, it took Elizabeth and Stephen six years

FOR Pennyweight winemaker Stephen Morris, advice from a friend to quit his job when in his late 20s to take up winemaking had been the best advice ever received. With his staunch supporter, wife Elizabeth by his side, the couple took a leap of faith when they made the huge decision and the successful winemaker and grape grower has never looked back, clocking up more than four decades in the industry this year.

The fourth-generation winemaker from the Morris family, which has more than 160 years of winemaking history, had been indecisive about his career in his younger years and with encouragement realised his love for wine and grape growing. Sound advice led Stephen to be one of the pioneering yields exceptional grapes for producing its top-quality wines. Stephen’s great grandfather George Francis Morris started a vineyard in Rutherglen in 1860, his grandfather Charles Hugh Morris created Morris Wines at Mia Mia vineyard in Rutherglen at the turn of the century while his father Frederick was a Morris Wines partner at Mia Mia until the winery’s sale in 1970.

William Street, where Stephen experimented by planting vines to see how they would go. Stephen started the winery from best table and elegant style white and red wines in the North organic and biodynamic.

“Beechworth is a good region for planting with its red soils where its climate is warm enough to get the fruit ripe and cool

“Planting is a lot of hard work with challenges in the vineyard, right amount of sunlight on them, but the rewards are reaped

Stephen and Elizabeth also run a 10-acre vineyard in Rutherglen owned by their son Fred and his wife Emily - the are grown for its Ports, Muscat, Sherries, Durif and Shiraz. The vineyard known as Sun Low Kee is named after the market gardener who originally bought the land in 1918.

While working as a district nurse at weekends before joining Stephen full-time, Elizabeth recalls arriving home on a crowded with people. >>

“It was quite extraordinary what Stephen was doing, and I had placed a casserole in the woodstove before I went to work. Customers thought it was a restaurant like in Italy or Greece out in the country, but it was our dinner,” she said.

“People from then who keep coming back remember the

As a family business Stephen says all members have made three sons Charles, Frederick and Steve working in the business over the years and Elizabeth always “giving her all” to help make it the success it is today.

“Our success has been very much to Elizabeth’s credit because of her total commitment. She managed with three children while I was studying and working full-time in the wine business - I left everything to her, including parenting, when I undertook a six-week study trip to Europe,” said Stephen.

With Stephen’s middle son Steve playing a big role as both a winemaker and viticulturist, Stephen considers his greatest reward is seeing the business continue as Steve and his partner Danielle take on improvements, paving the way forward for the winery. Having seven grandchildren, Stephen relishes the idea of having another generation to take up the reins.

“One of the exciting things for me is that our grandchildren might be interested (in the business), as the eldest is 14 years

Stephen says.

With land enriched for future generations, Stephen says it’s not just the physical environment, but valuable knowledge gained to share and hand down to the next generation. Growing up in the wine industry, Stephen already had a strong background in the industry, but he still embarked on viticulture studies, adding to his skills and knowledge. He followed this with an applied science degree at Charles Sturt University. Steve is now following in his father’s footsteps, having obtained a science degree too. Carrying on the wine business has been a fantastic opportunity for Steve - his parents having planted the vines, created the business and built the winemaking facilities.

“Now I get my turn too, and we have an amazing vineyard as well as producing incredible fruit to make some really good wines,” he said.

As part of Pennyweight Winery’s sustainability focus, being organic and biodynamic, a mid-row crop rotation is used with legumes such as peas, beans, wheat and oats between vines where crops are ploughed back in to compost the soil, capture carbon and manage water retention.

“There is no need to use fertilisers or irrigate,” Steve says. Wine matures in oak wine barrels for long periods of time months for early consumption by customers. While most wines longer to develop further. keep blending new wines to the old ones,” Stephen says. you’re constantly tasting, comparing and analysing each blend –with the end product becoming a personal taste. Steve is doing tastes to cater for our customers. Blending is actually one of the fun and fascinating things to do in the winery because there are >>

Steve says he would never dream of making a wine he wasn’t interested in.

“In this type of business, you have the luxury of being able to choose what you do and I love the styles I’m very interested in,” he says.

New releases of wines are made every year such as the Chardonnay, Riesling, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc as well as the Gamay – a ruby coloured wine with a savoury fragrance of enjoyed in the near future.

“We don’t cellar those wines because they don’t really need it, whereas we hold back the Pinot Noir, Cabernet and Shiraz stored in French oak barrels for close to two years,” said Steve.

He says his love for the industry fell into place growing up at the winery. Living in Western Australia for a while and working in the building industry, Steve’s experience comes in good stead for maintenance at the winery. Returning to Pennyweight is where he wanted to be. Steve enjoys being in the outdoors and says there is a very seasonal aspect to the work.

“You take note of the weather as it’s such a critical part of vineyard management and always keeping your eye on weather apps on the phone, especially this year,” he said.

Elizabeth says discipline and structure has also been a key to Pennyweight’s success.

“We set out on a mission with a vision and have succeeded, and we have gained an enormous amount of pleasure and sense of achievement,” she says.

Stephen says the family has been fortunate in having contributed to creating the Beechworth wine region which sets it apart from other regions with its climate and highly suitable soils. In business for 41 years, Stephen has seen extraordinary changes in the wine industry over that time. When he was young, around 14 wineries existed across Victoria where there are now 21 regions with more than 800 wineries and in excess of 600 cellar doors. Five of those regions are in the North East with over 30 family owned and operated vineyards in Beechworth and nearby surrounds stretching from Everton and Murmungee to Stanley. Danielle, previously an occupational therapist, is now dedicating her time to all aspects of the winery. She says the country lifestyle is a great way to bring up children.

“I couldn’t imagine it any other way, with freedom and and sustainability,” she said.

“They collect eggs from the chooks, help in the veggie garden and play in the vineyard which are very positive experiences for them. They’re gaining social skills too with people coming to the cellar door.”

Pennyweight Winery is well-known for its red and white table made from their estate grown grapes. And when it comes to their favourite wines, Elizabeth loves the Pinot Noir, Danielle chooses the Chardonnay and father and son both opt for the Cabernet Blend – a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Like father, like son.

Cocktail Classes

TASTING ROOM

SPEAKEASY BAR

Handmade by Lisa silverseedjewellery@gmail.com

Mount Beauty, Victoria 0407 050 490

Spread over two acres this renowned museum features multiple dwellings, exhibits and displays which showcase the early pioneering days and heritage of the region. All set within lovely gardens in the heart of Jindera.

BEFORE the railway station was built in the thriving town of Yea, a hotel was built in 1868 to cater to the workers on the railway line, providing accommodation and sustenance after claim through the 1830s, before prospectors began to arrive following the discovery of gold in the 1850s. By the late 1800s, the Railway Hotel - as it was known then - was doing a roaring trade, serving passengers now travelling on the railway line who stopped there for a 20 minute refreshment break - the building

Fast forward to today and while the building has undergone was renamed Yea Peppercorn Hotel (for the Peppercorn tree in the rear garden) and while it has been tastefully decorated inside and out, it retains many of its historic features including out towards the old station. >> rustic look and features like all the exposed brick inside,” Kelly said.

The beautiful building caught the eye of Kelly Petering and her partner Chris Byers who were based in the Pilbara and working in the mining industry before they bought the business in 2016, relocating to the North East Victorian township with baby Harley in tow. As Chris is a trained chef and Kelly has a background in the tourism industry, they had been looking for a new home and business opportunity which would make the most of their combined talents and be somewhere in the country, albeit within a couple of hours of Kelly’s extended family in Melbourne.

“We were after something rustic - Chris is very into antiques complement its heritage feel.”

Kelly said the fact they were already used to living in a small town environment in Western Australia certainly helped them to

“We found Yea to be such a lovely community and we connected with the locals very early on,” she said.

While Kelly said the business was already established and they haven’t made any major structural changes, they have certainly added their own stamp to the building and its interior, upgrading the accommodation and refreshing the colour apartment nearby, which Kelly said is particularly popular with families, groups and wedding parties - all regularly occupied because of a post-COVID boom. But it’s the extensive menu which keeps people coming through their doors time and time again - with dishes so popular it tends to curtail Chris’s ambitions as a creative chef - because returning customers can’t bear to let go of their favourites.

“We’ve found people like what they like - so much so, they ask if those dishes are still there,” said Kelly.

“We do make some seasonal changes with our produce, and we occasionally add something new, but people love the regular menu and they want the same things.”

One of the most popular dishes is an up market Peppercorn a peppercorn sauce. There are also locally sourced steaks -

Cellar Door at the Magnolia

190 Mt Buller Road, Mansfield

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5.30pm to 7.30pm

BOOKINGS APPRECIATED www.rosritchiewines.com helen.haines.mp@aph.gov.au

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Wangaratta / 117 Murphy Street 03 5721 7077

Wodonga / 79 High Street 02 6024 6284 are acknowledged by Museum Victoria, the custodians of the

Many of us dream of leaving a legacy for our families, but being able to share a significant collection of rare artefacts in the way the family of Mansfield’s Dr Will Twycross has done, makes for a truly exceptional story.

PRICELESS / Among the items now on on display at the Royal Exhbition Building are Japanese artefacts from the John Twycross collection (above) while ceramics (held left) created by his godmother, renowned cermacist Klytie Pate, are treasured by Dr Will Twycross today.

The dome built in 1880 is based on the design of Brunelleschi’s Duomo in Florence. The Royal Exhibition Building was awarded a UNESCO World Heritage listing in 2004 and is collection; but it was almost a “thanks, but no thanks” moment. He remembers making the phone call, and Museum Victoria held at the Royal Exhibition Building.

“It is highly unusual for a collection to remain extant with one split between multiple family members, being a smaller family, town to town with the collection. The precious items from the collection were regarded as a normal part of the household in the Melbourne suburb of Bright with his family when he

“My mother and father built the weatherboard house around the collection.”

He smiles at the memory of his mother Mary defending the reasoning that they were actual teeth. Will admits the realisation him when his parents were much older and the collection was people of Victoria was a critical aspect of the decision to donate the John Twycross Collection to Museum Victoria in 2008. Will explained the donation was conditional on the museum agreeing to publish a book to capture the historical importance of his great grandfather’s contribution to the life, art, and culture of 19th century Victoria and the emergence of Melbourne as a grand colonial city.

In 2014 “Visions of Colonial Grandeur” was published to complement the existing display of the family’s collection of the 1880s artefacts which had returned to the Royal Exhibition Building where they had come from. The book includes a range

National Trust property, McCrae Homestead, built in 1844 by Andrew and Georgiana McCrae. It is one of Victoria’s oldest homesteads and was home to the Burrells from 1851 to 1925, years. Will’s grandfather, an avid photographer, captured the family’s daily lives and pioneering spirit in images created from glass negatives. Several copies of these historical images from for patrons to enjoy. They also form part of a collection in the Twycross Burrell Gallery next door to the homestead documenting the family’s 75-year history on the Mornington Peninsula. Another artistic family connection on the peninsula is through the highly and evaluation of earthquakes. He accepted a position at the night in Japan, an earthquake occurred. Following the Yokohama a copy of his great uncle’s journal, which recorded essential earthquake activity and data. in the use of unusual glazes and the extensive incising, piercing can be found proudly displayed in Will’s home. His appreciation and admiration of Klytie’s art form culminated in the “Klytie Pate

With his interest piqued, Will made a permanent record of John Milne’s extraordinary work by directing the documentary centenary of his death. His great nephew took more than just a passing interest in the science behind earthquakes when the subsequent aftershocks.

From art to science, Will’s family tree on his mother’s side produced the much acclaimed geologist and engineer John “Earthquake” Milne. Born in Liverpool in Lancashire, England in ancestors and studied medicine at Melbourne University, where he met his wife-to-be Margie, who was studying social work.

Cummins farming family. Following graduation, Margie and Will reasons which led to the establishment of the Central General two others. Beyond the broader Twycross family history, Will has >>

“I really enjoy the public processes that lead to community achievement,” he said.

“Probably in that regard being involved in the de-amalgamation most momentous, as we remain the only community in Victoria to have achieved that. It was really that which led on to chairing the construction of the Great Victorian Rail Trail, the Visitors Centre

According to Will, when visitors admire the main street, they remove the car parks from the median strip, and create footpaths transformed it into a vital civic space that also hosts numerous community events and activities throughout the year. His love of history has seen an active involvement recently in the great work university reviews, has led to being heavily involved as an actor and, more recently, as a director with the local drama group people. He is looking forward to take two of “The Castle” which was well into rehearsals when COVID brought everything to an abrupt halt in March 2020. Will is resuming the mantle of director with some new cast members and script changes to bring this madcap production based on the much-loved 1997 a large cast ranging from primary school age to mid-70s, the show bridges the generation gap in a profound but fun way. The extremely important Indigenous heritage, and its history from

“I also continue to have a small role in Friends of Venilale, which connects our community to Venilale, in East Timor. My interest in that stems from visiting Timor in the days when it

Rehearsals begin in June, with 10 performances scheduled to begin from October 14, 2023.

Once the curtain closes on that show, one can only wonder

Whatever happens, the Twycross family legacy is set to live on for many more generations to come.

A labour of love has transformed this into an amazing space complete with an established maze, labyrinth, beautiful walled gardens, giant topiaries & sculptures, lawn games and of course, a gnome hunt!